WATERBURY -- A string of thefts of late model Hondas in the city is being attributed to one man, police say.

Felix Cruz, 24, who is originally from Bronx, N.Y., is being held on bonds totaling $52,000 after a detective tied him to stolen cars that were being stripped of parts, then ditched in the city.

Cars, mostly Honda Accords and Civics produced in the 1990s, were stolen in various places within the city, including Eastwood Avenue, Albion Street, Greenmount Terrace, Fieldstream Drive and Poplar Street.

The car boosting began in July and continued until at least November. Car owners locked the doors at night and kept the keys with them, but their rides were being taken while they slept.

In most cases, the cars were recovered, but were damaged. Most were found with their radios ripped out, and expensive accessories like air intakes, exhaust systems and body parts were gone.

Detective Kyle Howles tracked the thefts, finding a pattern among where the cars were recovered and stolen.

In four of the cases, he found the stolen vehicles were ditched within less than a mile of Cruz's Alder Street home.

Howles found that since July, 44 vehicles had been stolen within a mile of Cruz's home. With the exception of four of the cars, the stolen rides were Hondas, and all of the cars were made from 1991 to 1999.

During a break in the case, Cruz was arrested in November after a Waterbury officer pulled him over while he was driving a stolen 1999 Honda Civic on North Beacon Street.

Cruz told the officer a "guy he knows" on South Main Street sold the Honda to him.

Although Cruz didn't have a title, bill of sale or other paperwork for the car, police found he had keys for a variety of car manufacturers, including Acura, Jeep, Honda and Nissan, which may have been used in the thefts.

Cruz was charged with that theft and was eventually released on bond, but Howles worked to tie Cruz to other thefts in the city.

While visiting the home Cruz shares with his mother and brother on the first floor of 86 Alder St., Howles found numerous car parts, including rims and golf clubs on the side of the home.

Howles later found the clubs had been taken from one of the stolen cars, according to Cruz's arrest warrant.

Cruz later admitted he stole valuables from cars in his neighborhood. Police recovered some of those items, connecting them to the string of car thefts.

Police charged Cruz in connection to eight separate cases that included seven stolen cars. Two of those cars have not been recovered.

Cruz said little during his brief arraignment Monday in court. He now faces multiple counts of felony larceny, burglary and trover, which is charged when a defendant tampers with a car.

Cruz doesn't have a criminal record, but he had two pending cases in Waterbury Superior Court, including a third-degree larceny charge connecting to a car theft.

He is due back in court later this month.

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